This three part dissertation begins by "Examining the Origin of Federal Reserve Independence." This paper explores early Fed history with a particular emphasis on the period between 1947 and 1953 in order to provide a complete political account of Fed Independence. / Government

Insider dealing on the basis of inside information has been identified as an action against the principle of equal access to information for all those who need such information to make investment decisions. This thesis examines the regulation of insider dealing in financial markets. It analyses in particular the problem of the regulation of insider dealing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the shortcomings of this regulation and how it can be improved. The primary objective of the thesis is to offer reasonable recommendations for the reform of insider dealing in the UAE. There have been controversies regarding whether insider dealing should be regulated, the basis of such regulation and the form in which the law should intervene. This thesis has attempted to provide its own approach to the problem of insider dealing. This approach forwards the proposition that allowing insider dealing on the basis of inside information is against the principle of equal access to information and it is detrimental to market transparency. Based on this proposition, the thesis investigates the shortcomings of the current regulation of insider dealing in the UAE. Following this the applied study, which consists of a questionnaire and interviews conducted in the UAE, provides a clearer picture of the current regulation in the country. The study aims at measuring opinions and attitudes of investors and other experts towards the basis and effectiveness of the regulation of insider dealing in local markets in the UAE. This is followed by a legal comparative study. This is both a ‘macro-comparison’ and a ‘micro-comparison’ between the regulation of insider dealing in the jurisdictions of the US, the UK and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The ‘macro-comparison’ draws conclusions from comparing the broader systems of regulation in the three jurisdictions. The ‘micro-comparison’ concentrates on a functional comparison between the specific rules related to insider dealing. The legal comparative study is combined with the information generated by the applied study. Together these provide solutions (represented as recommendations) for the reform of the UAE larger system of regulation, and amendments to the rules related to insider dealing.

Modes of the legal regulation of hedge funds This thesis focuses on hedge funds, their history, main strategies, role on the financial market and regulation. It compares approach to regulation of those entities in the US, European Union (and its certain member states) and in significant offshore jurisdictions. Its major focus is on the financial crisis from the year 2008 and its impacts on hedge funds. Its goal is to find whether the regulation of hedge funds can be beneficiary and what approach should the regulator take. It discusses the effects of the Dodd-Frank act, UCITS IV and AIFMD and compares those legislative documents. It consists of four chapters. In first chapter it tries to define the term hedge fund. Second chapter briefly explains history of hedge funds and historical approach to their regulation in the US. Third chapter discusses various strategies used by hedge funds and their outcomes. Legislative approach in various countries is being investigated in part four of this thesis. It compares regulation on hedge funds in the US, European Union, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic and Singapore. It tries to predict what is going to happen with the hedge fund market after implementation of the EU Directive AIFM in the years 2013 to 2018 and it also tries to find the possible...

O presente estudo busca mapear expectativas e percepções de clientes de segmentos bancários de pessoas físicas de alta renda no Município de São Paulo, bem como eleger os aspectos de maior relevância na determinação de sua satisfação e lealdade. Foram coletados na literatura atributos pertinentes à prestação de serviços bancários, modelos e escalas de mensuração relacionados à Qualidade em Serviços, Imagem Corporativa, Satisfação e Lealdade do consumidor, a partir dos quais foi operacionalizada uma pesquisa quantitativa com clientes de distintos bancos atuantes no mercado de pessoas físicas de alta renda. Os resultados permitiram diagnosticar o alto de nível de expectativa dos clientes e a não homogeneidade de opinião em relação à qualidade do serviço prestado, tendo sido possível identificar os atributos de maior influência nos níveis de Satisfação e Lealdade cliente-banco. / The present study aims to both measure expectations and perceptions of individual bank clients with high earnings in the municipality of São Paulo and to rate the main interfeering aspects in determining their Satisfaction and loyalty. Drawing on the relevant literature on attributes to the provision of bank services as well as on models and scales regarding Service Quality, Coorporative Images, Consumer Satisfaction and Loyalty, a quantitative survey was conducted among the high income clients of bank services. The results showed that whereas clients? expectations were high, their perceptions regarding the quality of the services provided were not homogeneous. Additionally, it possible to identify the most influential attributes in consumer?s levels of Satisfaction with and Loyalty to their banks.

Este estudo analisa o efeito da informação e do capital social sobre o volume de negócios no mercado de crédito rural. Discute-se a conexão entre capital social e informação e como esta relação pode contribuir para a redução dos custos de transação da intermediação financeira, de modo a permitir aumento no volume de crédito rural. Para análise empírica, foi elaborado e testado um modelo econométrico (lógite) utilizando dados referentes ao Estado de São Paulo. Os dados foram obtidos de levantamentos estatísticos oficiais (censo agropecuário, LUPA e banco de dados do SEADE) referentes à safra 1995-1996. Os resultados indicam que o nível de capital social afeta o volume de crédito rural. Assim, incentivos, em especial com apoio do setor público, para formação e manutenção de capital social permitiriam aumento da eficiência da intermediação financeira e, em consequência, maior desenvolvimento do setor rural. / This study analyses the effect of information and social capital on the volume of contracts in the rural credit market. It discusses the connection between social capital and information and how this relation contributes to the reduction of financial intermediation’s transaction costs. A logit regression model was used to empirically test the effect of social capital on the volume of rural credit. The data, from the municipalities of the State of São Paulo, are from 1995 ~ 1996 official statistics (Farm Census, LUPA and SEADE’s data basis). The results indicate that the level of social capital affects the amount of rural credit. Thus, incentives to further increase and maintain social capital would increment the efficiency of financial intermediation and, as a consequence, help rural sector’s development.

A presente tese objetiva estudar o Credit Default Swap (CDS) e o Total Return Swap (TRS), que são os derivativos de crédito cuja negociação é permitida no país. Analisaremos a utilização destes instrumentos financeiros no sistema bancário, seus efeitos deletérios no mercado financeiro, o modo como são regulados no direito brasileiro, bem como as recentes alterações legislativas nos Estados Unidos e União Europeia pós crise de 2008. / This thesis aims at studying the Credit Default Swap (CDS) and the Total Return Swap (TRS), which are credit derivatives whose negotiation is permitted in the country. We will analyze the use of these financial instruments in the banking system, its deleterious effects on the financial market, the way they are regulated in Brazilian law, as well as the recent legislative changes in the United States and European Union after the 2008 crisis.

O intento do trabalho é verificar se empresas com ações negociadas na Bovespa enfrentam restrição ao crédito. A análise de painel com base em dados de balanço patrimonial para o período de 2001 a 2005 revelou que, diferentemente do que se esperava, empresas de grande porte apresentam maior dependência dos fluxos de caixa para efetivar seus investimentos. Todavia, há argumentos teóricos na literatura que fundamentam esses resultados, bem como outras evidências empíricas semelhantes. / The paper focuses on evaluating whether Brazilian listed firms have faced financial constraints. Relying on data over the period 2001-2005, a panel data analysis was carried out, but the evidence raised turned out differently from the initially expected: large firms are more sensitive to cash flows to undertake their investment than smaller ones. Nonetheless, the recent literature provides theoretical rationale to deal with those findings as well as empirical evidence consistent with them.

Esta tese analisará, em detalhes, o processo de transformação da economia, especialmente nos aspectos relacionados aos níveis de crescimento econômico e às implicações sobre o mercado de trabalho, ao final do século XX, especificamente entre o período de 1980 e 2000. De início, serão apresentados os principais indicadores e as suas variações no contexto da economia global. Através de séries históricas consolidadas, será possível compreender a importância da amostra temporal selecionada, assim como dos fatos históricos e das variações econômicas que envolveram o período. Na sequência, será analisado o comportamento das economias mais desenvolvidas à época, as quais compõem o Grupo dos Sete (G7). Por meio da separação desse grupo dos países mais desenvolvidos do mundo em dois conjuntos, um com escolha de medidas econômicas liberalizantes, e outro baseado na manutenção das práticas empregadas pelos welfare regimes, essas duas categorias serão comparadas em seus respectivos desempenhos econômicos e nos reflexos sobre a produção e o trabalho. A presente pesquisa analisará, ainda, minuciosamente, a evolução econômica ocorrida nos Estados Unidos, ao final do século XX, e as estratégias adotadas para a manutenção dos níveis de crescimento econômico nesse país. Por fim, será considerado o aprofundamento da importância assumida pelos métodos de intermediação mercado-financeira no processo de composição dos níveis de renda e de riqueza agregada de um país. / This thesis will examine in detail the economic transformation process, especially in which concerns to the levels of economic growth and the effects on the labor market, at the end of the twentieth century, particularly the period from 1980 to 2000. Initially, the main indicators will be presented with their variations within the global economy context. Through consolidated historical series, it will be possible to understand the importance of the selected time sample, as well as the relevance of the historical facts and economic changes involving the period. Following, it will be analyzed the behavior of the most developed economies, constituting the Group of Seven (G7), at that time. Through the division into two groups, the one comprising the most developed countries in the world will be differentiated by choosing liberalizing economic measures, while the other one by maintaining the practices applied by the welfare regimes. These two categories will be compared regarding their economic performance and the effects on production and labor. The research will examine in detail the evolution occurred specifically in the United States, at the end of the twentieth century, and the strategies adopted to maintain the economic growth levels in this country. Finally, it will be considered the intensification of the importance gained by the market-financial intermediation methods in composing the levels of income and aggregate wealth of a country.

Os investidores institucionais, tais como os fundos de pensão, são entidades que administram recursos de numerosos grupos de pessoas, e que, por isso, tendem a gerir grandes carteiras de investimento e a ter incentivos para se tornar bem informados. Por isso, espera-se que eles sejam bons representantes da classe de investidores sofisticados, ou bem informados, e que o aumento de sua presença no mercado de capitais melhore a velocidade do ajuste do preço, contribuindo para evitar ineficiências do mercado, como, por exemplo, a anomalia dos accruals (Sloan, 1996), que é um atraso na revisão dos preços diante da informação sobre a magnitude dos accruals do lucro. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo é analisar, em diversos países, o impacto da participação de investidores institucionais sobre a anomalia dos accruals. São formuladas quatro hipóteses: (i) a proporção de informações sobre o desempenho futuro da empresa refletida no preço de sua ação é positivamente relacionada com o percentual de participação societária dos investidores institucionais; (ii) quanto maior for o percentual da participação societária de investidores institucionais, maior será a qualidade do lucro; (iii) quanto maior for a value relevance do lucro, maior será a anomalia dos accruals; e (iv) quanto maior for a participação societária dos investidores institucionais, menor será a anomalia dos accruals. Para se atingir os objetivos, a bibliografia sobre investidores institucionais, investidores sofisticados e anomalia dos accruals é analisada e cotejada com a literatura sobre value relevance e qualidade do lucro, em especial com o de Dechow e Dichev (2002). A pesquisa empírica utiliza dados de empresas não financeiras listadas nas bolsas de valores da Alemanha, do Brasil, da Espanha, dos Estados Unidos, da França, da Holanda, da Itália, do Reino Unido e da Suíça, e cobre o período de 2004 a 2013. A amostra contempla entre 2.314 e 4.076 empresas, totalizando entre 15.902 e 20.174 observações, a depender do modelo estimado. São realizadas regressões com dados em painel, uma abordagem de equações aparentemente não relacionadas (Seemingly Unrelated Regression - SUR) e a aplicação do teste de Mishkin (1983). Constata-se que nos Estados Unidos e na Itália os investidores institucionais são mais bem informados que os demais, e que na Alemanha, nos Estados Unidos, na França e no Reino Unido eles exercem um papel de monitoramento, pressionando por lucros de qualidade superior. Não se constata, porém, relação positiva entre value relevance do lucro e anomalia dos accruals, nem entre participação de investidores institucionais e esta anomalia. O estudo enriquece a discussão sobre o mercado ser eficiente a longo prazo, mas apresentar anomalias no curto prazo; enfatiza a importância de o investidor ser capaz de converter informações em previsão e avaliação; discute o vínculo entre o papel de monitoramento dos investidores institucionais e a qualidade do lucro; e avalia a relação entre a atuação destes investidores e o prices lead earnings. / In view of the massive resources they manage, institutional investors (such as pension funds and insurers) tend to have large investment portfolios and equally large incentives to be well informed. It is therefore reasonable to see institutional investors as representatives of the class of sophisticated investors. The presence of institutional investors on the capital market is positively associated with the speed with which prices adjust to information, helping avoid market inefficiencies, such as accrual anomaly (a delay in price adjustment in relation to the available information on accruals). The objective of this article was to evaluate the impact of institutional investitor participation on accrual anomaly in different countries. To do so, we formulated four hypotheses: (i) the proportion of information on the future performance of a company reflected in its stock price is positively associated with the percentage of equity held by institutional investors; (ii) the greater the percentage of equity held by institutional investors, the greater the earnings quality; (iii) the higher the value relevance, the greater the accrual anomaly; and (iv) the greater the percentage of equity held by institutional investors, the smaller the accrual anomaly. We reviewed the literature on institutional investors, sophisticated investors and accrual anomaly and compared our findings with the literature on value relevance and earnings quality, especially Dechow and Dichev (2002). Our empirical research was based on data on nonfinancial firms listed on the stock exchanges of Brazil, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, the U.K., the U.S. and Switzerland, covering the period 2004-2013. The final sample consisted of 2,314 to 4,076 firms, with a total of 15,902 to 20,174 observations, depending on the model estimated. Panel regressions were performed using the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) approach and the Mishkin test. In the U.S. and Italy, institutional investors were found to be better informed than other investors. In France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., institutional investors played a strong monitoring role, pressuring firms to report earnings with higher quality. However, no positive association was found between the value relevance of earnings and accrual anomaly, nor between institutional investitor participation and accrual anomaly. The study sheds light on the question of long-term market efficiency and short-term anomalies, emphasizes the importance of investors being able to convert information into predictions and estimates, discusses the connection between institutional investor monitoring and earnings quality, and evaluates the relation between the presence of institutional investors and price lead earnings.

La politique budgétaire procyclique a suscité de nombreuses inquiétudes dans les économies émergentes en raison de ses conséquences négatives sur l’activité économique (ralentissement de la croissance, chômage). Ce travail prolonge ces débats à travers une nouvelle perspective puisque nous examinons les relations bidirectionnelles entre la politique budgétaire et les marchés boursiers sur un panel de 22 économies émergentes de la région Asie-Pacifique au cours de la période 1990 à 2015. Nous estimons tout d’abord une variété de modèles VAR en panel. Les résultats empiriques montrent que les politiques budgétaires dans ces pays ont tendance à être procycliques pour répondre aux rendements des marchés boursiers. Le comportement procyclique se retrouve à la fois dans les dépenses et les recettes publiques. D’autre part, une tentative de consolidation budgétaire dans ces pays a un effet positif sur les cours des actions. Cette étude examine également l’effet non linéaire de la politique budgétaire (mesurée par la dette publique domestique) sur le niveau de développement financier dans la région Asie-Pacifique. Les gouvernements des pays émergents se caractérisent par un degré institutionnel financier moins développé ainsi qu’une forte présence puisqu’ils intervienne sur le marché de la dette domestique. Cette étude montre enfin qu’un meilleur degré des institutions financières aide à discipliner les gouvernements. Les résultats suggèrent un effet négatif de la dette publique sur le développement financier, mais seulement pour un faible niveau de liberté et d’intégration financière. Une liberté et une intégration financière plus élevée réduiraient l’effet d’éviction de la dette publique domestique. / Pro-cyclical fiscal policy has raised concern in many emerging economies due to its adverse consequences to the economic activities (GDP slowdown, unemployment). This thesis takes a different approach to the issue, which aims to examine the bidirectional relationships between fiscal policy and stock market activities in a panel of 22 emerging Asia-Pacific economies over the period 1990-2015. We estimate a variety of Panel Vector Autoregressive models. The empirical results show that fiscal policies in these countries tend to a pro-cyclical path in responding to stock market movements. The pro-cyclical behavior is found with both government expenditure and government revenue. On the other hand, a fiscal consolidation attempt has a rewarding effect on stock prices. This study also investigates the nonlinear effect of fiscal policy (measured by the total domestic public sector debt) on the level of financial development in the Asia-Pacific region. Government of countries emerging are caracterized by a less developed degee of financial institutions and are very present by intervening in the domestic debt market. This study shows that a better degree of financial institution helps to discipline governments. The results suggest a negative effect of domestic public sector debt on financial development, but only at low level of financial freedom and integration. Higher financial freedom and financial integration would reduce the crowding-out effect of domestic public debt.